Day 152 Mount Adams – The Hike

16.23 miles
From Trout Lake/Forest Service Road 23 (mile 2232, elevation 3880)
To Killen Creek (mile 2247.6, elevation 5903)
Upload 3467
Descent 1464

I went to have breakfast with Hopper at the steakhouse down the street. It was a nice place and the food was good. My only problem was that it seemed more expensive than most comparable breakfasts. Hopper used to live in Silicon Valley, near me, but has since retired and now lives in Vietnam, at least when he’s not doing long backpacking trips like the PCT.

There was a bathroom scale on the porch outside the general store. I was afraid to use it to weigh my backpack, but decided to do it before leaving town. The difference between my weight with all my gear (pack, food, water, hiking poles) and without was 49 pounds. For reference, Hopper did the same thing (but without water) and his backpack weighed 22.5 pounds. I spent much of the day wondering why I weighed so much. I’m definitely not an ultralight backpacker, but I had previously checked my base weight on a scale at around 20 pounds. Had he picked up so many extra things along the way? My 3 liters of water would only equal a little less than 7 pounds. I know I have a pretty fast metabolism, but do I really eat that much food? (This is how the person who ate 2 frozen dinners and 1.5 liters of ice cream the night before asks)

Hopper and I were driven to the trailhead by Gerry, a local trail angel who used to work logging in the area and for the forest service. From him I learned more about logging and fighting fires in rural areas.

I spent today walking around Mount Adams. It has a large glacier on the northwest side. And Adams Creek below is very full, requiring careful hiking over a couple of downed trees. I extended my trekking poles as far as they would go so they could still reach the bottom of the stream and I could use them for balance.

Adams Creek and the logs I used to cross it.

While my view of Mount Adams continued to slowly change as I circled around it, it never really got closer or farther away. That led me to feel like I wasn’t making progress, even though logically I knew I was.

Mount Adams at 1 p.m.

Mount Adams around 2:30 p.m.

Mount Adams a little after 5 p.m.

Mount Saint Helens

Mount Hood. A visual sign that I’ve been making progress, even when I feel like I’m not.

rainy mountain

Since I only started the trail around 10:30, I ran out of power before my legs ran out of energy. A little after 6, I stopped for water at the last water in 4 miles. Then I realized there weren’t many campsites for 2.7 miles beyond the next quarter mile.

So I set up camp in some trees near the stream and a meadow. I finished dinner before I had to turn on the flashlight. Since the days are shorter, I often turn on the flashlight when I start dinner. It felt good to have more things taken care of under the light.

Once ready for bed, I left my tent and practiced the Thriller dance to real music. For me it is not automatic yet. But I discovered that I can play music and record videos at the same time. Once I have it down, I’ll have to record it. The official world dance group is called «Thrill the World.» Here on the road, I’ve been calling my practice «Thrill the Wild» or «Scaring Sasquatch.» I doubt it’s scaring wildlife. You’re probably confusing them or just making them laugh. Does the sasquatch laugh?

my campsite

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